Iran spends dlrs 20 million on AIDS control

Tehran, Dec 2, IRNA - Iran has so far spent some dlrs 20 million to control and prevent AIDS epidemic countrywide, a senior anti-drug official on Tuesday.

Director General of Drugs Campaign Headquarters, Saeed Sefatian, told
IRNA that since five years ago, the headquarters has taken preventive
steps to fight spread of the HIV virus throughout the country.

He said that until that time the number of the AIDS affected patients
was increasing as the disease became epidemic among needle addicts.

Sefatian referred to the establishment of Drugs Information Centers
(DIC) and Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) centers as examples of
activities made to help cure the AIDS affected addicts by increasing
the period of their treatment from one month to a maximum of two years.

The official expressed hope that Iran would hold workshops for its
neighboring states by the end of the current Iranian year (to end on
March 20, 2009) by providing them with Tehran's experiences in the
field of preventing AIDS.